The overwhelming sentiment in the media supports the legitimate Palestinian drive toward statehood. The vast majority of this sentiment is well-intentioned but is profoundly misguided and strategically flawed.

A significant reason that Israel and the Palestinians have failed to reach a compromise has been the mistrust that Israel has of the Palestinians, their supporters and backers. This mistrust of their adversaries is compounded by the apparent blatant biases of the media, hell-bent on presenting the Palestinian cause in a good light - even when it is at fault; and Israel in a bad light even when it is not at fault. The Israeli interpretation to this is that they have no resort to balanced unbiased opinion and no matter what Israel does, it will be demonised.

This tide of, in some cases well-intentioned opinion, and in other cases blatant genocidal anti-Semitic ravings, has forced Israel into a corner from which there is no escape: either fight off all threats to its security, or be annihilated.

It is easy for non-Jews to cite the post-Holocaust mind-set of Jews as convenient scapegoating of history for its own modern objectives, but until one has walked in the shoes of a culture that has experienced such atrocities and near extinction, one cannot possibly understand how it has been traumatised, become distrusting of so-called civilised cultures and hardened to millennium-old oppression. In the same way, modern Western culture can't possibly understand the cultural and religious foundation that has enabled homicide bombings to exist in this modern age.

If the media wants to legitimately facilitate a solution to the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, then it should be meticulous in presenting news in a fair and unbiased manner. To be blatantly biased against Israel will achieve the very opposite to its intent - it will push Israel into a corner from which radical and severe action is the only recourse. Give Israel the confidence that it will be treated equally and fairly, then you will see it be much more flexible with Palestinian aspirations.